Drag bucket elevating and unloading mechanism



c. J. PRANGE 3,019,921

DRAG BUCKET ELEVATING AND UNLOADING MECHANISM Feb. 6, 1962 Filed April 12, 1960 INVENTOR. ['HARL 5s JPRA/VGE Arm/ms? United St ate:

3,019,921 DRAG BUCKET ELEVATING AND UNLOADING MECHANISM Charles J. Prange, Lima, Ohio Filed Apr. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 36,102 3 Claims. (Cl. 214-103) This invention relates, in general, to drag bucket type sewer, storm drain and culvert cleaning apparatus and, in particular to drag bucket dumping and truck loading apparatus of the type disclosed in my Patent No. 2,892,557 issued June 30, 1959, for Power Bucket Machine. The general object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus for guiding a bucket in its movements to a dumping position after having been loaded with sediment in a sewer or culvert and withdrawn therefrom.

More particularly, my invention provides, in such an apparatus, an improved bucket-straddling guide roller around which the bucket and its operating cables are adapted to be drawn in order to change direction in the path of movement of the bucket from the man hole or culvert to a dumping position.

A further object is to provide such a bucket handling apparatus embodying an improved guide roller of the flanged-pulley type having independently rotatable bearing surfaces of varying diameters for engaging a generally cylindrical bucket and its cable-linking bails at varying radial distances from the axis of rotation thereof, in a manner such as to minimize wear against the roller and bucket arising from the differences in the rate of circumferential travel of these bearing surfaces of differing radii as related to the uniform rate of linear travel of the several parts of the bucket riding against these bearing surfaces.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the ensuing specifications and appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of a drag bucket conveyor apparatus embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the same illustrating the bucket in a tilted position as it is drawn around the guide roller;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating the roller and the bucket at the beginning of such tilting movement;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of my guide roller with thebucket at the beginning point of tilting movement;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the roller of FIG. 4 illustrating the bucket in the same position as in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary axial sectional view of my improved roller.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, I have shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 thereof, as an example of one form in which the invention may be embodied, a portion of a truck loading apparatus of the type disclosed in my aforesaid prior Patent No. 2,892,557, comprising the forward end portion of the apparatus which is adapted to convey a drag bucket 10 upwardly from the mouth of a man hole as indicated by arrow 11, to tilt the bucket over on its side and to then convey it in a generally horizontal direction as indicated by arrow 12 to an upward rear extremity of the apparatus where the bucket is tilted downwardly to dump its contents from its open rear end while its forward end, defined by a pair of hinged clam shell lips 14, remains closed.

In such a truck loader apparatus, there is embodied a frame structure including, at the forward end shown in FIG. 1, a pair of spaced legs 16 secured to and braced by one or more cross beams 17 and by longitudinal frame members 18 and 19 extending to the rear end of the apparatus, as more fully disclosed in my aforesaid patent.

At their lower ends, legs 16 are adapted to rest upon a supporting surface such as a pavement, adjacent one side of a man hole indicated at M, through which the bucket 10 is elevated in its movement in a dumping position. Guide plates 20 secured to upper longitudinal members 19, are arranged with a downwardly and inwardly inclined dihedral, and are laterally spaced at their inward margins, to provide longitudinally extending bucket guide ways.

The bucket 14} embodies a pair of longitudinally slidable, diametrically opposed actuator bars 21 at its respective sides, the bars 21 being linked to the clam shell lips 14 by actuator linkage (not shown). The bucket 10 includes a cylindrical body portion and a plurality of wear shoes 13 of runner form secured to its outer surface in circumferentially spaced positions extending longitudinally parallel to its major axis, in groups of three spaced from one another on opposite sides of the bucket. In these features, the bucket 10 is of conventional construction as shown for example in prior Patent No. 2,454,008, issued November 16, 1948, to Robinson. ttached to the rear ends of actuator bars 21 is a bail 22 to which is secured a bucket elevating cable 23 which passes around a pulley at the rear end of the machine to a winch carried by the frame structure 18 (the pulley and winch are not shown herein). To the forward ends of actuator bars 21 is secured a bail 24 to which is attached a bucket loading cable 25 adapted to extend down into the sewer and along the sewer and thence through a man hole at a distance from the man hole M and to be actuated by a winch located at the distant manhole for drawing the bucket into the sewer and loading it. The pull against the actuator bars by cable 25 effect the opening of clam shell lips 14. From the top of its ascent on path 11, bucket 10 is tilted rearwardly in-to path 12 around a roller 26 which journalled on a shaft 27 the ends of which are mounted in the upper ends of legs 16. In path 12 the bucket is supported and guided by the guide ways 17. The roller 26 is of bucket straddling width as shown in FIG. 2, and includes a central waist portion 28 and a pair of frusto-conical flange parts 30 and 29 which cooperatively provide lateral bearing surface, while waist section 28 provides a bottom bearing surface.

' Referring now to FIG. 3, a central shoe 13 of the bucket on one side thereof is adapted to bear against a bottom-bearing surface 28 while a pair of lateral shoes 13 bear against lateral bearing surfaces provided by the flange parts 29. The outer lateral bearing surfaces provided by the flange parts 30 are positioned for engagement by the side arms of the bails 22 and 24 as indicated in FIG. 3.

At this point, it may be noted that the radius of engagement of the lateral shoes 13 against the bearing surfaces 29 is of a slightly greater radius from the axis of shaft 27 than the radius of the central bearing surface 28 upon which the central shoe 13 rides. This requires a small amount of slippage between the three shoes 13 and the respective bearing surfaces 28 and 29, since the shoes 13 will move at a common linear rate of travel whereas the bearing surfaces 28 and 29, rotating at a common angular speed, will have different rates of circumferential travel because of their different radii. A certain amount of wear will occur as a result of this slippage. This wear can be endured because of the relatively small difierential between the two circumferential rates of rotation. However, because of the much greater difierence between the radius of the outer lateral bearing surfaces 30 and the radius of the central bearing surface 28, there will be a much greater differential between the circumferential rates of travel of the respective surfaces, and in the apparatus of this type utilizing the older form of one piece guide roller having all parts thereof rotating at a common angulat speed, the effect of wear of the bucket bail-s against the lateral extremities of the bearing surfaces of such a roller has been unduly destructive, such as to require the replacement of rollers after periods of surface as low as a year or less.

The present invention solves this problem by providing a roller in three sections, wherein the outer flange members are separate from the main central body of the roller embodying waist section 23 and intermediate flanges 2?, and are mounted upon shaft 27 for independent rotation.

As shown in FIG. 6, the main body section 31 of the roller may have a hub 32 adjoining the hubs 33 of the lateral flwge units 3%} so as to be retained between these two flange units, and the flange units 30 in turn may be retained between retainer collars 34 secured at 35 to the shaft 27.

Since the sections 30 and 31 of the roller are freely rotatable independently of one another, the lateral flange sections 36 may rotate at a slower speed than the main body unit 31, as indicated by the linear speed of travel of the bail 22. or 24, so that no slippage will occur between the bail and the lateral flange units 3%. Thus wear on the roller is minimized.

FIGS. 4 and 5 disclose an improved form of the lateral flange members 3i), wherein cylindrical peripheral surfaces 36 are provided at the outer side of the flange units 36. The edges of bails 22 and 24 may ride flatly against these cylindrical periphery bearing surfaces 36, indicated in FIG. 6.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus utilizing a drag bucket for cleaning drainage conduits such as sewers and culverts: a support adapted to be positioned adjacent a mouth of said conduit; :a bucket guide roller of bucket-straddling proportions comprising a main body section having an axial length approximately equal to the diameter of the bucket and a pair of axially thin, disc-like end flange members disposed closely adjacent the ends of said main body section; and a shaft mounted in said support upon which said main body section and end flange members are mounted for free rotation independently of one another on a common rotational axis, with the end flange members located closely adjacent the respective ends of main body section; said main body section having a central part providing a generally cylindrical central bearing surface of minimum radius for supporting contact with a central area of said bucket and having axially opposed flange parts integrally joined to respective axial extremities of said central part and providing frusto-conical lateral bearing surfaces diverging outwardly from and of greater radius than said central surface, and said end flange members having peripheral bearing surfaces of a radius approximately the same as the maximum radius of said lateral bearing surfaces, for supporting engagement with lateral parts of said bucket while rotating at a circumferential rate of rotation substantially matched to that of said minimum radius central bearing surface to minimize slippage between the respective bearing surfaces and said central and lateral parts of the bucket.

2. In an apparatus utilizing a drag bucket having a bail with parallel lateral arms, for cleaning a drainage conduit such as a sewer or culvert: a bucket guide roller of bucket-straddling proportions comprising a main body section having an axial length approximately equal to the diameter of the bucket and a pair of axially thin, disc-like end flange members disposed closely adjacent the respective ends of said main body section; and means upon which said main body section and end flange members are mounted for free rotation independently of one another on a common rotational axis, with the end flange members located closely adjacent the respective ends of the main body section; said main body section including a central part providing a bearing surface of minimum radius for supporting contact with a central area of said bucket and including radially outwardly projecting lateral flange parts, integral with said central part, providing frusto-conical outwardly flaring lateral bearing surfaces; and said end flange members having peripheral bearing surfaces of approximately the same radius as the maximum radius of said lateral bearing surfaces, for supporting engagement with lateral arms of said bail while rotating at a circumferential rate of rotation substantially matched to that of said minim-um radius central bearing surface, thus minimizing wear upon said roller; said peripheral bearing surfaces including cylindrical rim surfaces.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said peripheral surfaces include frusto-conical surfaces converging toward said rotational axis from said cylindrical rim surfaces and associated with said frust'o-conical lateral surfaces of said main body section as continuations of the latter. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 710,936 Bacon Oct. 14, 1902 1,636,051 Francisco July 19, 1927 2,892,557 Prange June 30, 1959 

